USB Recognition

[kruk]

I was upgrading my brothers computer with a new video card for the holidays. Bought him a BFG 7600 GT OC, which is a nice card for the money at newegg ($113 US with rebate). Problem is flippin Dell packaged his computer with a whopping 230W power supply *bastards* The vid card requires at least a 350W supply. OK, no problem, I installed a 500W power supply and tested his system to make sure the PS was working properly, when the system booted Windows XP would not recognize any of the USB ports including plug and play keyboard and mouse. I tried resetting the CMOS on the MB, no good. I booted into system, the keyboard and mouse had power navigating through BIOS. USB is enabled in BIOS. Dell support suggested that it is a Windows problem and that a reformat of the hard drive and fresh install of Windows would solve the problem. Well, that blows in my opinion. Is there any way of accessing Windows, to check the USB driver info in system properties without keyboard and mouse support?

<edit, there are no PS/2 ports on this machine>

 

[digitalwanderer]

Does it recognize the keyboard during boot? (I'm assuming it does since you said you checked the bios) Can you boot into safe mode?

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Your only method might be a Windows repair installation. While you can usually get the system to boot without mouse or keyboard by disabling "Halt On Errors" in the BIOS, and navigate around Windows without either the mouse or the keyboard, I don't see how you are going to be able to do anything with neither mouse nor keyboard. There's no way for you to access anything.

If you have another machine on the same network and remote login enabled, you might be able to login and try and fix things that way.

 

[digitalwanderer]

What did you install when you put in the 7600? What did you have in before?

There isn't anyway that just changing your PSU would cause the problems your having, there must be some software conflict from the viddy card install is my best guess.

Did you clean out your old drivers before hand? Have you tried booting into safe mode?

 

[kruk]

I did not install the video card. I replaced the power supply and wanted to test it before adding the vid card. Yes, the keyboard works in setup, I can navigate through BIOS ( I checked to make sure the USB setting was on). I can also boot into safe mode, but the keyboard and mouse power off as soon as I enter safe mode.

Unfortunately, this computer is not remotely accessible. Good idea though.

What would happen if I change the boot sequence to the cd drive with the Windows cd in it? Could I install a fresh OS over the old one without losing any data? Would it fix the problem? Perhaps it is not possible to install Windows without a functioning keyboard/mouse.

 

[hoom]

Try repeatedly unplugging & replugging the USB stuff.
Surprisingly often Windows seems to decide to loose USB devices & then magically rediscover them when plugged back in (often a different USB port helps).

Also check that you have USB keyboard/mouse enabled in BIOS

 

[digitalwanderer]

Try booting to the XP CD and running the recovery console instead of a re-install first.

Also, did you connect all the power attachments to your mobo? Did this PSU have a 20-24 pin adapter and does it have a separate 4-prong 12v attachment thingy?